Free Lesson Friday

Much of my work at TXBA involves sitting at a computer and working on the website. There are weeks that go by where I barely have time to play guitar. Taking such a long time off can cause your skills to slip. I find that during these periods, it’s helpful to have some warm-up (or calibration) licks that help identify which parts of my technique are slipping. In this lesson, I’ll teach you a lick that ascends and descends through 3 different boxes. At fast speeds, it will expose problems with your picking technique and general sloppiness. At slower speeds, it can be a good technique building exercise for beginner and intermediate players.

Course Link: Slow Blues Quick Fix #1 This is a sample from the new course called Slow Blues Quick Fix #1. In this video you’ll see the full 8 minute demonstration, in the style of Ain’t Gone ‘n’ Give Up On Love by SRV. After the full performance, you’ll see the individual lick demonstrations with tablature, exactly as they are shown in the course. Each lick is shown at full speed, then again with half-speed, each with tablature overlaid on the video. If you like that kind of breakdown, you’ll love the course.

In this lesson, we’ll look at the deceptively simple rhythm in the song Bright Lights by Gary Clark Jr. The rhythm is based around a single chord with a few embellishments. The challenging part is to get the right “feel”, created by staccato accents alternating with ringing low notes.

In this lesson we’ll look at a lick from John Mayer’s “Gravity” that includes some of the fast reverse-rake/pull-off/hammer-on combos that have become a signature of his playing.

In this lesson we’ll look at the rhythm pattern used by Kenny Wayne Shepherd in his song Shotgun Blues from the Live On album (1999). At first glance, it looks a little like a Pride and Joy copy, but as we dig in, you’ll find that he’s mixing up the single-note rhythm with some chord accents to give the rhythm some weight.

In this first lesson shot on the TXBA Barn stage, we’ll look at a tricky passage from Stevie Ray Vaughan’s solo in the song “The Sky Is Crying”. TXBA Locals will get a backing track and tablature for this lesson.

This is a sample from our new course Rock and Roll Quick Fix #1.

Course Link: The Wind Cries Mary Song Guide. This is the first lesson in a new Mini-Course called The Wind Cries Mary Song Guide. If you like this lesson and you want to learn more about this classic Hendrix tune, check out the rest of the course.

Mixing small chords into your blues licks is a great way to give your soloing a more polished sound. If you’ve never done this before, it might be challenging to know where these small chords are, and which chords you can use over which chord of the progression. In this lesson, I’ll show you a bunch of small 2-note chords that you can mix with your blues licks, and which chord of the progression each can be used over.

There are only two recordings of Jimi Hendrix playing “Bold As Love” (at least that’s all I could find). You’ve probably already heard the version from the Axis: Bold As Love album, but the other is an instrumental rendition recorded at Olympic Studios. The lick taught in this lesson occurs at 3:16 during that recording. It’s a simple 3-note repeating lick moved over each chord of the progression.

This video presents 10 great tips for becoming your band’s most favorite member. These tips will ensure you can stay in this band for a long time, and definitely not get fired. You can take these tips seriously because I’m a guitar teacher, on the internet.

Buried in the middle of his solo in The House is Rockin, SRV played a fantastic short lick that mixes major and minor, and has a great rhythmic feel. That’s what you’ll learn in this lesson. This is one of my favorite SRV licks of all time, not because it’s super difficult, but for the way it seems to dance back and forth with the beat of the song. The notes aren’t complicated, but the picking might be the most challenging part.